MUZAFFARABAD:Anwar Ali and Mohammad Wasim Jr. came hard at Bagh Stallions’ bowlers in the death overs as Muzaffarabad Tigers chased 214 runs target comfortably in the second last over of the innings on Thursday.
Iftikhar punished Tigers as the middle-order batsman played a fabulous inning of unbeaten 86 to help his side post 213 on the board, but the bowlers disappointed Tigers’ fans.
In the first game of the revised schedule second half, Muzaffarabad Tigers won the toss and elected to ball first in the morning game where they were taking on Bagh Stallions. Stallions lost three early wickets in the initial phase as Zeeshan Malik (11), Rohail Nazir (10) and Asad Shafiq (zero) got out without major contributions. When Iftikhar Ahmad joined Shan Masood, both went on to score 81 for the fourth wicket before the later lost his wicket for 65 off 40. Iftikhar Ahmad and Amir Yamin punished Tigers’ bowlers for fun as both scored 77 in just five overs at the back end to help Stallions post 213 in 20 overs. Iftikhar scored unbeaten 86 off 38 while Yamin played unbeaten 41 runs innings. Tigers’ skipper Mohammad Hafeez got two wickets in the game.
Starting a 214 runs’ chase, Tigers lost Malik Nisar’s wicket early on but still managed to score 74 runs in the powerplay. The wickets kept on falling regularly as batsmen struggled to produce partnerships. Notable contributions came from Sohaib Maqsood and Sohail Akhtar who scored 60 off 40 and 26 off 17. Both lost their wickets before the game entered death overs where team required 46 in the last four overs with Anwar Ali and Mohammad Wasim up for the task at the 22 yards. Anwar Ali scored 42 off 18 while Mohammad Wasim Jr. played an outstanding knock of unbeaten 31 off just 9 balls, helping Tigers chase Stallions’ 214 runs target in the second last over of the inning. Umaid Asif and Amir Sohail got two scalps each.